The Severus Snape Advent Calendar, Take 2
by HappyAuriga
Summary: Just what the title says. Join Severus as he counts down the days to Christmas! (And read the first one if you haven't yet ;) )
1. 1st of December

The Severus Snape Advent Calendar, Take 2

1

Severus looked around nervously. He gathered his cloak closer, not only to protect his slender frame from the cold and the snow, but also to hide a bit. After all, this endeavour was ridiculous for a man his age, but he had to do it! He walked up Diagon Alley, oblivious of the shoppers hurrying to and fro, looking into doorways and examining the small displays of street vendors.

After his fifteenth walk along the whole lenght of the street, Severus admitted defeat. He wasn´t there. Sadly he decided to have a nice cup of hot tea at the Leaky Cauldron before he returned to Hogwarts.

The potions master was just going to open the passage to the pub, when he was addressed from behind.

"Looking for me, young man?"

Severus whirled around. "San..."

He found himself stopped by a raised hand and a stern glare. "Were you hoping to buy another of my little boxes?" the old man asked kindly.

The wizard nodded. Yes. He had been.

"What a pity," continued the white-bearded man. "I never sell to a person twice."

Severus hung his head. The little advent calendar he had bought last year had been fun, and he´d have repeated the experience gladly. "I´m sorry to have disturbed you," he said, hopeless.

"Don´t apologize!" smiled the old man. "I appreciate people coming looking for me. In the past, they did frequently, but nowadays..." he shook his head. "As I said," he continued, "I never sell to the same person twice, but I will make an exception for you!"

"Thank you!" beamed the black clad wizard.

"There is a stipulation though," said the vendor.

"What is it?"

"I will give you one of my calendars as a present, but you must not open more than one window. Every day, you have to find a different person to open it and give them what they find in there. Are you ready to do that?"

To be honest, Severus wasn´t thrilled with the thought, but having one of Santa´s little gifts was better than not getting any, so he agreed. The old man laughed happily and gave the potions master a small pink box with a white number one on it.

So who was he going to let open the first window?

The decision was taken from Severus as he met the headmaster on his way into Hogwarts Castle an hour later.

"Severus!" cried the old wizard excitedly. "You got another one!" He pointed at the pink box. "He must really, really like you!"

"Actually it´s more complicated," the potions master explained with dignity. "He gave it to me, but I have to give all but one gifts away, each to a different person." He paused. "Would you like to do the honours and open the first window?" He held out the calendar to his superior.

Albus Dumbledore clapped his hands. "May I really? Oh, this is even more exciting than Minerva doing the annual accounting!" He took the box reverently and opened it. "Look!" he cried an instant later. "I got a nose warmer!"

And really! In the box was a soft, woollen thing, which Severus would have taken as an egg warmer, seeing that it had a beak, two eyes and a cockscomb made of felt. The headmaster took it out of the box, which he handed back to Severus, and put it onto his nose.

"Just what I needed!" he cried. His voice sounded a little muffled by the nose warmer. "I was on my way to Hagrid when we met! Thank you very much, Severus! But I´d better go now. It´s too warm to wear this inside the castle." That said he slipped outside where the gently snowfall was slowly turning into something akin to a blizzard.

Severus couldn´t but smile. This was going to be fun. He could hardly wait for tomorrow.


	2. 2nd of December

2

The next morning found Severus touching his robes nervously as he approached the head table for breakfast. He sat beside the person he had chosen to get the second gift and accepted the cup of tea she was handing him graciously.

"You seem a bit disdraught this morning, Severus," Minerva McGonagall said kindly as she held out a plate of the potions master´s favourite breakfast cookies invitingly. "Aren´t you feeling well, dear?"

"I´m well," Severus hurried to reassure the witch. "The only thing is that I´m a bit nervous." He blushed.

"Nervous? Why would you be nervous at breakfast, Severus?"

The potions master sighed. There wasn´t going to be a better cue than this one. "I wanted to ask you," Severus rummaged in his pocket, "whether you would like to open my advent calendar."

"Your advent calendar?" Minerva McGonagall glared at the potions master down her nose as if she wasn´t sure he was out of his mind. "Aren´t you a bit old for that?"

"Now, now, Minerva," said the headmaster from the witch´s other side. "You can never be too old for an advent calendar. And Severus´s is a very special one. Look, I got a nose warmer yesterday!" He put on the item in question. "Isn´t it marvellous?" His voice sounded muffled by the small woollen garment.

The deputy headmistress gave her superior a glare that clearly told that marvellous was not the word she would have chosen to describe the nose warmer.

"Go ahead, open it!" insisted Dumbledore.

Hesitantly the witch took the box from Severus. "Thank you, Severus." She opened it and produced a small piece of fabric, which started to grow the moment it left the box.

The Great Hall went silent enough to hear a pin fall.

"How dare you!" screetched the head of Gryffindor house. She tossed the advent calendar at the potions master. "Never in my life was I made the target of such a crude prank!"

"I swear I had no idea what today´s present was!" Severus cried desperately. Several students snickered, but they were silenced by a murderous glare. "I´d never give you lingery in public!"

"Not in public, not in private, not under any circumstances you can think of, young man!" Minerva McGonagall shook the offending lace nightdress angrily. She turned on the spot and rushed out of the hall.

"I´ll talk to her, don´t worry, Severus," said the headmaster soothingly. "I thought it was a wonderful nightdress." That said, he hurried after the witch.

Severus sat back down, pocketed his calendar and started his breakfast. The usual noise set in shortly later, when the students understood there was nothing more to see.

"That was pretty rude of her," someone purred beside the potions master little later. "I´d have been thrilled to get such a present." Septima Vector stretched on Minerva´s chair luxuriously.

Severus swallowed hard. Was that woman batting her lashes at him? "I will keep it in mind," he said in as neutral a tone as he could manage. He made a mental note not to let the Arithmancy teacher open a door if he could help it.

After a quick breakfast the potions master returned to his dungeons. Santa´s stipulation was more trouble than he had thought. He had to be more careful. Giving the deputy headmistress a lace nightshirt in plain view of the assembled student body was not going to do his reputation any good. Oh no, this whole advent calendar business needed thorough planning, and Severus was going to do just that.


	3. 3rd of December

3

Severus started his planning by drawing up a table. For each day he left space to write down who, when and where said person was to open the calendar.

Filling in the first column turned out to be a problem. He had written down the names of Hagrid, Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout and Rolanda Hooch. He even added Filch´s name grudgingly, but then he had to admit that it might be a problem to find 23 people he knew well enough to share his advent calendar with. He could hardly go to a deatheater meeting with the little pink box!

Severus started to pace his office nervously. What had he gotten himself into now! Santa´s stipulation was impossible to follow! What was going to happen if he broke his promise? Was Santa going to bring him presents? Certainly not.

After an hour of pacing, the potions master decided he needed fresh air. Grimly, he snatched the offending advent calendar from his desk and stomped into the corridor. He should have known better than to fall for Santa´s friendly face. The man was mocking him! Rubbing in that he, Severus, didn´t have 23 friends!

The potions master hurried up to the Astronomy Tower with long strides, taking two steps at a time. The fresh air was bliss. The only setback was that he was not alone.

"Did you come to see the sunrise?"

The blonde girl turned and smiled at the potions master. She wore mistletoe earrings with eyes glaring out between the twigs and an exact copy of the headmaster´s nose warmer. Her smile even broadened when Severus stared at her nose.

"It´s a very useful item, isn´t it? I knew I wanted one the moment I saw Professor Dumbledore wear his. It´s a simple spell." The girl produced a ball of wool from her pocket. "Would you like one, too, Professor?" The child pointed her wand at the wool.

"No, thank you, Miss Lovegood," Severus answered with as much dignity as he could muster. "I think not."

"So, did you come for the sunrise?"

"No, if I did, I would have been here two hours earlier, obviously. I´m here for the fresh air."

"I see." Luna Lovegood smiled beatifically. "Fresh air is important. It helps me think."

"I hope it will help me think, too," admitted the potions master.

"What do you need to think about?" asked the girl. "I came here to think about how to find Gnargles. The time around Christmas is said to be great to find Gnargles."

"What are Gnargles?"

"Magical creatures that live in mistletoes." The girl nodded. The tassel on her nose warmer hopped up and down funnily. "And you, Sir? What did you want to think about?"

Severus felt uneasy about confiding in the strange Ravenclaw, but then why not? "I got this advent calendar and I have to give the little gift it holds to a different person every day. I don´t know so many people."

"Professor, you live in a castle with hundreds of people. You must know 23 of them!"

"I know all of them," admitted Severus, "but I don´t know 23 so well that I want to share my advent calendar with them."

"Well, maybe you aren´t supposed to," Luna Lovegood said solemnly. "Maybe you´re supposed to get to know them by sharing a gift with them."

Severus thought about it for a little while. Maybe the girl was right!

"Miss Lovegood," he offered the pink box with a dramatic gesture, "would you do me the honour to open my advent calendar today?"

"It would be my pleasure!" beamed the girl and took the box. "Oh!" she squealed with delight. "Look!" Slowly, the girl lifted a necklace matching her earrings out of the box. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The Ravenclaw fell on the potions master´s neck and hugged him tightly.

Again, Severus made a mental note not to let the calendar be opened in public in the future.


	4. 4th of December

4

The next day Severus decided to be a little more relaxed about the advent calendar business. Luna Lovegood was right. A person didn´t need to be his friend before they opened the little box. The calendar could be just the connection he needed to make friends with someone. Of course, Severus had no plans whatsoever to make more than a dozen of new friends, but the thought that he didn´t need two dozens of friends to start with was a relief.

Instead of worrying all day long who should open the box, Severus put it in his pocket and carried the little calendar with him all day, confident to find a person fit to open it, sooner or later.

After a number of annoying – Annoying with a capital A – lessons with juvenile thunderheads, worst of all Gryffindors for most the lessons, the potions master decided to flee the castle for a little while.

Wrapped in a warm winter cloak, Severus walked down the path to Hogsmeade. A meal without any of those youthful imbeciles nearby was going to do him a world of good.

The Three Broomsticks were, unsurprisingly for a Thursday evening, full, but not crammed.

"Severus! What a pleasant surprise!" Madam Rosmerta greeted the new guest as he entered the pub. She winked at him merrily in passing, as she carried a tray of drinks to one of the tables. On her way back, she hooked her arm under the potions master´s elbow. "A table? Or are you here for a drink at the bar?"

"A table, please. I´d like to try your stew. Hagrid speaks highly of it." Severus hinted a smile.

"Ah, Hagrid!" laughed the matron. "One of my dearest customers. Come, the little table back in the corner is free."

Severus settled down at the small table, which seated only one. It was in one of the far corners of the room, from where you could see most of the pub, but were overlooked by most. He had always loved this table, even when he was a student at Hogwarts.

Rosmerta returned with a huge cup of tea and a bowl of stew little later. She placed the dish in front of Severus and conjured a small chair for herself.

"So, what brings you here in the middle of the week, dearie?" the woman asked. "Couldn´t stand the brats any longer, eh?"

"They were dreadful!" admitted Severus. "One of my third years even managed to burn a potion that was based on water. I ask you!"

"It´s not your fault, you know that. Children are children! They try things out. They want to make their own mistakes!"

"You don´t try things out when your potions master tells you to stir your brew!" huffed Severus. "You know that he´s competent and do as you´re told!"

"Severus," laughed Rosmerta. "How many times did I see you do exactly what old Slughorn had told us not to do?"

"That was something completely different," replied the potions master between two spoonfuls of stew. "I was a gifted brewer! I had intuition of what would work and what would not! But those children! They have no idea!"

"Just imagine," smiled Rosmerta and patted the wizard´s hand, "you make them obey and by doing so you overlook the one student in your carreer who is gifted as you were. You have to let them make mistakes to find the genius among the imbeciles."

Severus sighed. "You´re probably right. But it´s not easy, I tell you."

"That´s why you come here whenever things are getting too much," Rosmerta smiled kindly.

"And you know every single time what to say to make me feel better. – Rosmerta, would you like to open my advent calendar?"

The matron laughed. "You know, I´ve heard flirting men say the most peculiar things to me, but this one is new."

"Oh, come on! You know me. I´m not flirting. I´m serious. Would you?" Severus held out the pink box.

Rosmerta´s eyes went big. "Is this what I think it is?"

Severus nodded.

The witch took the little box reverently. "And you want me to open it?"

"I´d be honoured," said the potions master solemnly. "But I must add that it sometimes gives embarrassing things."

"Is this were Minerva got that nightdress?" giggled the matron.

"What do you know about that?"

"Only that Albus made her try it on and the success, rumour has it, was spectacular." Rosmerta giggled a little more. "May I?" After another confirmative nod, she opened the box. "Oh!"

A small star was in the box, which grew as soon as it was lifted out of its confinement. It only stopped when it was as big as a plate. It glittered and shone.

"Just what I need to decorate my door!" said Rosmerta. "Thank you, Severus!" She handed the box back and pecked the potions master on the tip of his nose.

Some of the other patrons wolf-whistled.

Severus could have slapped himself. What had become of not opening the box in public?


	5. 5th of December

5

Apart from having made himself the target of some petty remarks, Severus thought that the previous day with the advent calendar had gone well. He had found somebody to open the little box without much planning and, although he had never considered Rosmertha much more than an old acquaintance, he was quite content with the outcome. The matron had always been friendly to him in the past, so she deserved the little treat very much.

All in all the experience had been satisfying enough to stick to Luna Lovegood´s proposed plan of action. That was why the potions master let breakfast and lunch pass without offering the calendar to any of his colleagues.

The first afternoon class was Severus´ least favourite one. It contained Hogwarts´ resident troublemakers, the Golden Trio as well as Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin gang. The student list alone cried "trouble" and why anybody in their right mind would want to put these Gryffindors and Slytherins into the same course was beyond the potions master.

Severus prepared the instructions on the blackboard, as he did for every lesson with this group. He certainly was not going to turn his back on these children for ten seconds, less long enough to write instructions down.

When the group arrived, Severus shooed the Gryffindors and Slytherins to opposite sides of the dungeon with well-practiced sneers. He waited until everybody had found a seat, made sure that he had easy access to Longbottom´s cauldron and gave the class a short lecture about what they were brewing. That done, he revealed the instructions with a lazy wave of his wand and started to wander between the worktables, glaring down upon students, inspecting cauldrons and hissing instructions.

The lesson proceeded nicely – or as nicely as a lesson with this crowd would ever proceed. It was more than half over when somebody tugged on Severus´s sleeve from behind. The potions master twirled around to see which impertinent little monster dared touch him and met the stormy grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.

The boy said only one word. "Longbottom."

Severus didn´t ask for details. He drew his wand and hurried to the walking catastrophy´s cauldron. He arrived just in time to freeze a dash of elfmade wine in midair.

"Longbottom!" the potions master growled with hardly controlled ire, "where on this blackboard does it say to use elfmade wine? Didn´t they teach you to read at some point? Was this an attempt to kill us all? Do you, by any means, know what would have happened if hadn´t paid attention? You could have killed every single soul in this room. The combination of elfmade wine with an infusion of camomille and powdered dragon scales produces the mist of oblivion! We would have forgotten everything, down to rudimentary knowledge like how to breathe!"

The Gryffindor had the decency to pale and shivver and Severus sent him off to the hospital wing.

The rest of the class went well as everybody was scared to death.

" , stay behind," Severus ordered when the class filed out of the room.

The blond nodded and stood, his bag in hand, beside Severus´s desk, waiting patiently for the last student to disappear.

"Tell me, what made you tell on rather than let his cauldron explode," asked the potions master. He couldn´t imagine that Draco Malfoy had realised what exactly Longbottom was producing.

"My Aunt Walpurga was a great potioneer," sneered the boy. "She warned me never to use elfmade wine in any potion that contained dragon material. The outcome is always extremely dangerous."

"I see. Your behaviour merits a reward," Severus followed an impulse. "You may open my advent calendar."

The boy looked bewildered, but opened the pink box solemnly, when it was offered.

"A whistle. Thank you, Sir!" The boy hinted a bow before he left the classroom.

Severus stayed behind wondering what or whom that whistle would call.


	6. 6th of December

6

The potions master came late to breakfast the next day. He had spent half of the night tossing and turning in bed, wondering about the mysterious whistle Draco Malfoy had found in the advent calendar. Deprived of a good night´s rest, he was in a bad mood, very bad indeed.

The man hurried up the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table, his robes billowing behind him, his face all determination; he resembled a bird of prey.

"Filius." The potions master nodded at his colleague in greeting before he settled down beside him in a flourish of robes.

"Severus," replied the small head of Ravenclaw. "What a dramatic entrance! Is there anything wrong?"

"Wrong? Not at all!" The potions master helped himself to a cup of tea with a sour expression.

The smaller man looked doubtful, but didn´t say anything after years of knowing the potions master.

"Filius, may I ask you a favour?" the younger wizard turned to face his colleague. He had decided to take the safe way this day. Another sleepless night was not desirable.

"Of course! What do you need, Severus?"

"I have that advent calendar..." the potions master started.

"The one that gave Minerva the nightdress?" Flitwick giggled.

Severus blushed, but continued as if he hadn´t. "Exactly. Would you open it for me today?"

"Of course!" the small charms professor winked at the potions master. "I could do with a nightdress."

Severus harumpfed, but held out the box. When Flitwick opened it, three shining dots rose and flew up, towards the rafters.

"What was that?" cried the tiny wizard.

"I´m not sure! It could have been fairies!"

"Fairies? We have to catch them!" Flitwick pointed his wand at the glowing dots, which had nearly reached the enchanted ceiling, but his spell didn´t affect the dots at all. One after the other, the teachers tried to get hold of the charms expert´s advent gift, to no avail.

Suddenly, Minerva pointed up, where the three dots had changed their course. Everybody expressed surprise and some tried to explain what had caused the reaction. Severus, though, knew.

The three dots were making a beeline for the Slytherin table, were Draco Malfoy was blowing his whistle!

The potions master decided to examine said whistle later. For now he had to catch Filius´ gift. He emptied a marmalade jar (Evanesco!) and all but ran to the Slytherin table, where he caught three tiny fairies in the jar.

"Well done, Severus!" cried the charms teacher. "That was quick thinking! – Wonderful! Real decoration fairies! They´re so hard to get!" He shook the jar the potions master had handed him. "And Mr. Malfoy! You´re lucky to possess a fairy whistle! They´re pretty rare!"

"A fairy whistle?" Draco´s face lit with greed.

"A fairy whistle," confirmed the small wizard. "I happen to have a book. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes, please, professor!"

Severus sat back down to finish his cup of tea. He´d never thought he´d live to see Draco Malfoy follow Filius Flitwick eagerly. The time before Christmas was truly full of miracles.


	7. 7th of December

7

As it was Sunday, Severus slept in. It was nearly lunch time when he left his quarters to head up to the Great Hall for a bite.

He didn´t get far, however.

"Severus! I started to think you´d sleep the whole day away." Lucius Malfoy drawled, pushing away from the dungeon wall he had been leaning against.

"Lucius. For how long have you been waiting?" Severus eyed his old friend suspiciously. In nearly twenty years Severus had been teaching at Hogwarts and nearly seven his only son had attended the school, Lucius had never paid the potions master a visit. "What brings you to my humble doorstep?"

"I haven´t been waiting," the blond wizard replied with an oily smile. "I happened to be nearby and thought I´d call on a friend. What about a cup of tea in private?" He pointed at the door Severus had just closed.

The potions master turned around, reopened the door and bid the elder Malfoy inside. Five minutes later they sat in front of Severus´s fireplace and sipped tea.

"Draco told me," said Lucius, putting his cup back onto its saucer, "that you gave him a little gift."

Severus confirmed with a silent nod. He sipped his tea.

"A fairy whistle. A rare and highly useful gadget."

The potions master eyed Lucius over the rim of his cup.

"He said it was in an advent calendar. The boy even claimed it was a real Santa calendar."

The black clad wizard continued sipping his tea. The two men stared at each other with determination. Finally, it was Lucius to give up.

"Do you or do you not have a real Santa calendar?" hissed the blond.

"As a matter of fact I have." Severus took another sip of tea.

"Stop hiding behind that cup! I demand you share the calendar with me!" Lucius glared daggers at the potions master. "Share or I´ll make sure you get nothing at all!"

"Who would take it from me?" Severus sneered.

Lucius smiled superiorly and rubbed his left forearm as if absentminded.

"You don´t think that YOU would get anything if you told HIM." The potions master smirked back at the blond.

"I insist you share!" growled the blond.

Severus laughed. "The calendar came with a stipulation. Nobody is able to open it more than once. If you´re a good boy, I´ll let you open today´s window." The potions master just hoped this was how the calendar worked. Technically, Santa had said that he, Severus, could only open one window, not that anybody else had the same restriction.

"Only one window per person?"

"Santa´s orders."

"And you´d give me today´s?"

"You aren´t my first choice, but as you waited all morning... I might let you open it as a little reward. But then you won´t pester me again."

"I´d never do anything against Santa´s orders! I want my presents." The blond looked around eagerly.

Severus produced the small pink box. "Open it!"

Lucius did so greedily. His face fell.

"A toothbrush? What for would I need another toothbrush?"

"Never question Santa´s wisdom." Severus smirked.

Lucius pushed the pink box back at the potions master. He turned in a flourish of robes worthy of Severus himself and stalked out of the quarters.


	8. 8th of December

8

Severus Snape was determined to make sure it was he, and nobody else, who chose the person to open the advent calendar the next day. He had spent half of Sunday brooding over how he had been cornered by Lucius. True, he had spent the other half giggling over the gift the proud blond had found in the small pink box, but that was not the point. He, Severus Snape, had received a gift, and Lucius Malfoy had got as close to taking it from him as he could get. It was shameful.

To regain his pride, Severus had decided to chose the most improbable of people to open the calendar: Neville Longbottom.

First the potions master thought about cornering the boy at breakfast, but Draco wasn´t at the Slytherin table and Severus wanted Lucius to hear about his choice first hand. Therefore he changed plan and let Longbottom proceed to his first lesson, which happened to be potions.

The boy was very nervous after his near-disastrous performance during the last lesson. Severus tried to encourage the young Gryffindor with a friendly smile, but the imbecile paled even further. Luckily, Severus had chosen a rather easy assignment for the lesson. Anybody could brew jealousy, a green concoction, which was – from a potions master's point of view – barely more than an infusion of harpy toe nails. The most complicated part was adding the right amount of dried and fresh peppermint to cover the vile taste. The best part, as far as Severus was concerned, was that nobody, not even the walking disaster, could make this potion explode. None of the ingredients was potentially dangerous. In fact, the only reason why this brew wasn't part of the first year syllabus was the mischief you could do with the finished potion.

The lesson went surprisingly well. The only interruption was a shouting match between Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown over who had softer hair. That, and the fist fight between Draco and the Potter boy after Draco had winked at the golden Gryffindor when he went back to his workplace after sniffing, patting and stroking the two girls´ hair in order to settle the quarrel.

Severus sent Potter and Malfoy – both were sporting a nose bleed – off to the hospital wing and took points from Brown and Patil for taking a potion they hadn't been told to.

When the lesson was over, he asked the Longbottom boy to stay behind.

The clumsy brat stood by his cauldron and looked at Severus as if he expected him to tear his head off.

"Longbottom," Severus drawled in order to lighten the mood. "I was quite impressed how you avoided any explosion today."

The ungrateful brat paled even more.

"Your brew even was the right colour," Severus continued.

He was just thinking what else to say, when the boy fainted.

The potions master swore under his breath and conjured a stretcher for the boy. He levitated it and walked the unconscious student up to the hospital wing.

"Three in one lesson, Severus?" snapped Madam Pomfrey. She was applying one of Severus´s brews to Potter's nose. "That's much, even for you."

The potions master made a noncommittal noise.

"Hold that, Mr. Potter." The matron handed the boy the cloth she had used to apply the potion before she ran a diagnostic spell over Neville Longbottom. "Hm. He's in a state of shock. What did you do? Compliment his brewing abilities?" The nurse giggled.

Severus snorted, but didn't grant her an answer. Meanwhile the witch enervated the unlucky Neville.

" ," Severus greeted the boy. "Don't you dare faint on me again."

"No, Sir," whispered the trembling Gryffindor.

"Mr. Longbottom, I asked you to stay behind so that you could open my advent calendar." Severus held out the little pink box.

"Thank you, Sir," Neville replied politely. He propped up on an elbow and took the calendar. "Oh! A potions ladle! Thank you, Sir!"

"You're welcome." Severus smirked at Draco Malfoy, who was most conveniently sitting beside Potter, holding a matching cloth to his nose.

On his way back to the dungeons Severus wondered why the calendar would give Neville Longbottom of all people a potioneering tool.


	9. 9th of December

9

After his rather crude demonstration of who was in charge of the advent calendar, Severus felt more at ease the next day. He carried the little box in his pocket all day, waiting for the right person to honour with the little gift it held.

He wanted to keep his colleagues for days when he had no time to look for a different candidate and he didn't feel like choosing the next best of his students. No, if it was a student, he or she had to deserve their gift, but none of the children in his classes did exceptionally well during lessons. Severus was even thinking about letting one of his fellow teachers open the box, when his left forearm burned.

He was summoned.

Severus signalled the headmaster where he was going and hurried out of the castle, down to the gates. Once off the Hogwarts grounds he apparated, letting his master's magic lead him.

He popped back into existence in the corridor of what he recognized to be Tom Riddle's ancestors´ home. The carpet, once bright and colourful, was covered in a layer of dust which was patterned by the traces of a moving snake.

"Severus, come in!" cried the Dark Lord from one of the rooms and the potions master followed his voice to a door, which was lit by the light of a fire from behind.

The Dark Lord was sitting in front of a big fireplace, in a battered armchair and having tea. Beside him stood Lucius.

Severus stifled a groan. He should have known the blond not to be able to keep a secret.

"My Lord!" the potions master sank to his knees. "How may I be of use to you?"

"Stand, Severus," ordered the dark creature, which the potions master took as a good sign. "I had a talk with Lucius here. It came to my attention that his teeth are even whiter and shinier than usually. I asked how he did it and he told me about getting a toothbrush from Santa himself. – Is it true? You have an original Santa calendar?"

"Yes, my Lord," admitted the potions master.

"So, why hasn't your Lord opened a window yet?"

Severus knew that his life depended upon the answer. He weighed his words carefully. "My Lord, I was under the impression that the gifts were getting better and better. So I decided to keep one of the last ones for my master."

"Very wise, Severus! But, alas, I fear I'm not that patient. Let me have my gift today!"

"If you wish, my Lord!" Severus held out the box. "But there's no guarantee you will get one of those toothbrushes you desire."

The Dark Lord took the pink box and opened it. "What is that?" he cried.

Severus and Lucius bent closer to see better. The Dark Lord had fished a small object out of the box. It looked like a velvet ring.

"I have never seen anything like that!" admitted Lucius.

"Nor have I," added Severus.

"Nor I."

The three wizards examined the object closely, but to no avail. Finally the Dark Lord pointed his wand at the object. "Reveal your secret!" he hissed.

The little orange velvet ring sprang to life and hopped to the Dark Lord's wand. It impaled itself on the wooden length and moved up and down.

"A wand polisher!" cried the three wizards in unison.

"Wonderful!" added the Dark Lord. "Lucius has shiny teeth, but I have a shiny wand!" He eagerly watched the velvet ring clean his wand and pocketed the small item when it was finished. The wand sparkled in the light of the fire. "So much better than shiny teeth!"

Severus and Lucius agreed.

Later that evening Severus lay in bed, happy that his master had liked his gift.


	10. 10th of December

10

"A wand polisher?" Albus Dumbledore pouted. "Why does he always get the good things?"

"May I remind you, headmaster, that your nose warmer is a good thing, too?" Severus asked sourly.

"Of course, of course! I mustn´t be ungrateful! It was exactly what I needed at exactly the time I needed it. I saw that some of the students copied it, but none of their copies is a good as my original." He produced the nose warmer in question from his pocket and put it on. "See? – So what are you going to do about the advent calendar today?"

Severus chewed his toast slowly. "I think I will give the present away early. I don´t want to risk more interference. First Lucius and then You Know Who, that´s enough. This calendar is mine and I determine who gets the gifts."

"So will it be one of the colleagues?" the headmaster asked curiously. "Septima has been looking at you eagerly ever since Minerva got her nightdress."

"I certainly will not burden myself with an eager woman," growled the potions master. Some seats down the table Septima Vector looked disappointed. "I think it will be Argus today."

"Argus? That is very kind of you, Severus." The headmaster helped himself to another cup of tea.

The potions master went searching for the caretaker right after breakfast. He found him at the trophy room, where the man was cleaning the glass showcases. His cat, Mrs. Norris, was watching him from a corner of the room.

" !" Severus hurried to the man´s side. "I´ve been asking myself whether you would like to open my advent calendar." He held out the pink box.

Argus Filch blushed with excitement. "Is it true, professor, that this comes from Santa himself?"

Severus nodded.

The caretaker took the box eagerly and opened it. "A chocolate bar," he cried, a little disappointed.

"A chocolate bar from Santa himself!" Severus pointed out.

"I was hoping for a magical gift!" Filch admitted.

"Not everybody gets one," Severus explained. "Just think of professor McGonagall."

"It´s true," mused Filch, "a nightdress isn´t magical, although rumor has it that the result was close to magical. – But a piece of chocolate! You can get that in every muggle calendar."

"True," hissed the potion master, angry now. "I will remember that next year and not pester you again."

"I´m sorry, professor," cried the caretaker, "I didn´t want to sound ungrateful. It´s only because," he hesitated, "I have no magic of my own. Therefore I hoped for a magical present. I´m sure the chocolate is great." He opened the wrap and tried a bite. "Mmmmh!" the man practically purred. "This is easily the best chocolate I ever tasted. It IS magical!"

Severus smirked and left the squib to his chocolate. He had lessons to teach after all.


	11. 11th of December

11

The next day was so busy that Severus had barely time to think about the advent calendar. In the morning Madam Pomfrey came running to ask him about extra akne oinment. It seemed that a total of three years had learned an akne hex in Defence the day before, but the imbecile who taught the subject had not thought about teaching them either a counter curse or a shield spell for it.

The potions master had spent his free period in the morning cutting, slicing, grinding and brewing. Thanks to his organizational skills he had managed to time his first year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw lesson with the boiling period of his brew. Lunchbreak had been dedicated to adding the last, vital ingredients and then to delivering the salve to the hospital wing.

The next period had been more Hufflepuffs, so Severus didn´t need to clean his tools himself. Thank Merlin for small mercies. After his last lesson the potions master practically ran to the Great Hall. He hadn´t had a single bite since breakfast, so getting his hands on food was top priority.

After double helpings of vegetable soup, chicken and chocolate cake the potions master leaned back in his chair and let his eyes wander over the assembled student body. Who to choose? Who deserved one of Santa´s gifts?

First, he considered his own little Slytherins, but that reminded him of Draco Malfoy´s indiscretion. He had already lost two gifts to his ´other life´, which were – as far as Severus was concerned – two too many. So, no Slytherins.

Looking at the other house tables, he realized that he had already chosen a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor, but no Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuffs, on the other hand, were always helpful. Only today they had spared him hours of cleaning away his brewing tools. Without a word of complaint they had cleaned, washed and polished in addition to the lesson´s normal workload.

His decision made, Severus got up and stalked to the Hufflepuff house table.

"Mr. McMillan," he said pompously, as he knew the boy liked a bit of drama. "Please, do me the honour of opening this advent calendar for me."

Ernie bowed and did as told. Puzzled, he fished a silver bow out of the little box.

"Wonderful," said Justin Finch-Fletchley. "You can use it to wrap your Christmas presents."

McMillan smiled, but was surprised to see that the bow started to grow as the last loop of it had left the box. It lenghtened and broadened and as it grew, it became obvious that it was not silver. It was white with delicate embroidery of silver stars in the middle. Near the edge silver reindeer played. Severus thought he spotted a reindeer race.

"What is it?" cried several of the boys when the bow had stopped growing.

"A Christmas table cloth!" cried Hannah Abbot. "And it´s big enough for our house table!"

Several of the young Hufflepuffs clapped at the idea of having such a beautiful table cloth. The older students levitated the remaining dishes and some younger ones helped Ernie spread the new table cloth.

"Wonderful," cried the boy when they had set the dishes back down. "Now Hufflepuff has the most beautiful table of all houses!" His housemates whispered excitedly. Hufflepuff rarely got glory, so having the most beautiful table was quite something.

Severus congratulated the house of the badgers. On his way down to the dungeons he mused how wise his little advent calendar was. He had chosen the McMillan boy to thank the whole house and the pink box had provided a present for all of Hufflepuff.


	12. 12th of December

12

After breakfast – the Hufflepuff table was crammed with students as every single house member seemed eager to bask in the glory of the new table cloth – Severus returned to his dungeons to prepare lessons.

He started with laying out the ingredients for the fifth years he was going to teach in the afternoon. The confusion draught he intended to teach them was long overdue. It came up in OWLs on a regular basis, and as it hadn´t in the past two years, Severus was very sure it was going to this year. The class was not very advanced in their brewing, so he had decided to let them brew the draught twice during the year and he didn´t want to do it too close in time or even the most imbecilic kid would understand he had done it on purpose.

It came as a shock that his stock of firewhisky – one of the basic ingredients to most mind influencing potions – was nearly down to none. The potions master glared at the offending store cupboard and swore under his breath.

"Sir?" a soft voice came from behind. Hermione Granger, Gryffindor know-it-all, was early for her lesson. Again.

Severus closed his eyes and counted slowly to ten. "Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked when he thought he had his temper under control.

"Is there a problem, Sir? You seemed ... disdraught," the unsufferable girl had the cheek to say.

"Not at all," growled Severus.

"I´m sorry, Sir, but it didn´t sound like everything was in order when you muttered about bloody stuff," insisted the girl, proving that she was a true Gryffindor.

Severus thought about giving the little witch his true opinion about foolhardy Gryffindors, nosy know-it-alls and blasted bottles, but then he realised that nobody was going to hear his insults, which would make them a waste of time and energy.

"I just realised I ran out of firewhisky," he admitted. "Nothing to bother you, though. We don´t need it for your lesson."

"Sir, I bought a bottle for my father, as a Christmas present," replied the Granger girl. "I´d be willing to help you out if you can give me a new bottle before Christmas. There´s no more Hogsmeade weekend, so I can´t get a new one myself."

Severus didn´t like the idea of being indebted to Granger of all people, but he really needed to cover the confusion draught with the fifth years, so he agreed. The girl ran back to Gryffindor Tower and returned with the bottle even before her classmates arrived. As there was still nobody – not even her sidekicks Potter and Weasley – Severus refrained from taking points for carrying an alcoholic beverage to class.

He thanked the girl and she smiled back sweetly. Following a spontaneous idea, Severus held out his advent calendar offeringly.

"Oh!" cried the girl, "I´ve read about these! May I open it? This is such an honour, Professor!"

"Stop babbling and open it!" growled Severus and shoved the box closer to the girl.

Granger took the box and opened it reverently. "Oh, Sir!" The girl blushed when she opened the box. Severus could have kicked himself. In the box lay a gold ring with a blue stone. To make matters worse, Granger put it on and then fell on the potions master´s neck in a thank you hug, just in time for her arriving classmates to see.

Some students were imbecilic enough to wolf-whistle, but Severus stopped them by deducing vast amounts of points for "making inappropriate sounds in class".

Ten minutes into the lesson Granger cried out in glee. "Sir! It changes colour when I open the book on the right page! This is the best present ever!"

As soon as it was clear that Granger had gotten something useful, the class lost interest and the rest of the lesson was spent rather quietly.


	13. 13th of December

13

The next day was Saturday and, thank Merlin, the weekend was no Hogsmeade one. Severus had the day off, so he went down to the village to have a completely teenager-free breakfast at the Three Broomsticks.

The door to the pub was decorated with Rosmerta´s glittering star. It looked very festive.

"Severus!" the witch greeted the potions master enthusiastically. "I´ve been hoping you were going to come today! I really have to thank you. Ever since I put up the star at the door, more guests have been coming. It´s like magic!"

"I´m glad you like your gift," smiled Snape and sat at his usual table, where he was soon served coffee and a small assortment of his favourites for breakfast.

After a meal mostly spent in Rosmerta´s company, the wizard decided to spend some time Christmas shopping as he was at the village anyway. He went to the local branch of Flourish and Blott´s first. He didn´t exchange gifts with many people and since they were all colleagues, he usually found all his gifts at the bookshop.

The potions master searched the shelves leisurely. The sun was already descending when he finally left the shop with a heavy paper bag. There was "Headmasters of Hogwarts – Genius and Madness" for Dumbledore, "Dressing for Sleep" for Minerva (Severus simply couldn´t resist) and "Don´t Charge By Size" for Flitwick. Sprout´s present was a particularly heavy tome on giant mushrooms.

Snape hurried up to the castle. He was looking forward to dinner as he had skipped lunch and a good read of the book he had bought for himself. "The Thirteen Uses of Canary Feathers". The Canary was, as far Severus was concerned, a heavily underestimated creature. It was good to have a book which esteemed the little bird as high as it deserved.

"Sorry, Professor!"

Severus put on his most vicious glare. "Can´t you look where you are running, Potter?"

"Technically," replied the brat, living up to his Gryffindor reputation, "you were the one doing the running, Sir." The boy glared at Severus defiantly.

The potions master huffed and collected his books. The paper bag had not survived the impact and following fall of the two wizards. As soon as he had scrambled up to his feet, Severus fled to his dungeons. He was certainly not ready to spoil a perfect day with a discussion with Potter of all people.

Severus had barely set down his pile of books when there was a knock at the door.

The potions master stalked over there and flung the door open. In front of it stood the boy who lived.

At Severus´ glare, he handed his professor the canary book. "You forgot this in the Entrance Hall, Sir."

"Thank you, Potter!" Severus snatched the book from the boy. "Come in!"

The boy obeyed reluctantly. The potions master enjoyed the oh so brave Gryffindor´s uncertainty for a little while before he held out his pink box. He had remembered just in time that he needed someone to open it if he wanted to have dinner at his quarters, and then end a teenager-free day with some reading up on canaries.

Potter turned the box in his hand,uncertain what to do. "Sir?"

"It´s an advent calendar, Potter," growled Severus. "I want you to open today´s window!"

Potter obeyed.

"A quill. Thank you, Sir." Potter handed the box back and left as quickly as it was possible without seeming to flee.

Severus spent the evening hoping that the mysterious quill was not going to correct Potter´s mistakes when he used it. The boy's homework was a never ending well of bonmots. It would be a pity to lose that.


	14. 14th of December

14

Severus hated being summoned on a Sunday. Having two jobs – potions master at Hogwarts and the Dark Lord´s right-hand man – was bad enough, but when one job took away his rare leisure time of the other, it was hell.

The summoning, a light itchy feeling on his left forearm, came at the break of dawn. It even woke the potions master. Cursing under his breath, Snape forewent a shower in favour of a cleaning charm (which meant he had to wait another week until he had time to bask forever under the warm spray, one of the rare pleasures Severus Snape allowed himself) and put on his robes.

Without a single bite of breakfast Snape hurried down to the gates and apparated. One of these days he was going to kill the snake-nosed git and spare Potter the job.

The apparition – he allowed his master´s call to guide him – brought the potions master back to Riddle House. This time he was led to a room on the ground floor instead of the dusty one he had visited last time. The ground floor room was clean. The tiles were shiny – had the Dark Lord acquired a house elf or was it Wormtail´s work? – and the hangings freshly washed. In the middle of the ballroom sized room stood a table, laid for breakfast.

The Dark Lord sat at the head of the table and sipped tea.

"Severus! Finally! Come and join me!" cried the man and gestured to an empty place at the spot to his right. "Wormtail!" – the small wizard hurried into the room – "Bring coffee for Severus!"

The potions master sat obediently and helped himself to a plate of fresh fruit and toast.

"Master," he dared say after he had had some coffee and toast, "as much as I´m honoured by this wonderful breakfast, may I ask why you called me? How may I be of assistance?"

The Dark Lord swallowed the bacon he had been chewing. "Severus, this breakfast is sort of a bribe," sighed the man. "The matter I want to talk about is delicate and an emergency and I have no right to command you in it."

Severus was puzzled.

"The gift your calendar gave me caused severe trouble for me," the Dark Lord continued.

"The wand polisher?" the potions master was bewildered. The little gadget had seemed harmless enough.

"The very." The Dark Lord sighed again. "I don´t complain! It was a gift from Santa after all and complaining would be ungrateful." He took a forkful of baked beans. "Not even I – powerful as I am – would anger Santa."

There was a short silence. Severus´s curiosity was roused and it was hard to patiently wait until the Dark Lord was ready to continue.

"Bella, my most faithful," the man explained at last, "has been polishing my wand for years. When she found it shiny when she came to do it this week, she thought I had found somebody else for the task. She was deeply hurt, and you know her. When Bella is hurt, she runs amok." There was another pause when the Dark Lord sipped tea. "She has been giving me a hard time ever since. I thought I could handle her, but I can´t."

"Master, I have no more power over her than you. On the contrary. Don´t you think her husband would have been a better choice to ask for assistance?"

"You don´t understand! What I was going to ask you, beg you, was to let her open your advent calendar, to make her believe me. I know I have no right to ask for another of Santa´s gifts, but it is not for myself."

Severus would never in athousand years have thought of including Bellatrix Lestrange in the group of people who got one of Santa´s presents, but denying the Dark Lord wouldn´t have been wise.

"I would be honoured." Severus hinted a bow and grabbed some bacon. This conversation asked for stronger stuff than fresh pineapple.

The Dark Lord beamed at the potions master and called for Wormtail again. He pressed his wand onto the small wizard´s dark mark and five minutes later Bellatrix hurried into the room.

"My Lord!" the woman threw herself at her master's feet.

"Sit with us, Bellatrix," the Dark Lord said pompously. "We had a disagreement this week and as I don´t want my most faithful to be cross with me, especially when Christmas is just around the corner, I asked Severus for proof that what I told you was right." He signalled the potions master to take over.

"Bella," Snape said in an equally pompous tone, "I´d be honoured if you opened my advent calendar today. It´s a Santa original."

"So it´s true!" said the witch in a hushed voice when she took the little pink box from the potions master. She opened it. "Oh!"

The woman lifted a small item out of the box before she handed the latter back to the potions master. The item started to grow as soon as it had left its confinement. It was a pillow.

"Wonderful!" cried Bellatrix. "Thank you, Severus! I can kneel on this when I worship my Lord! – My knees have never been the same after my stay at Azkaban." She threw the pillow on the floor and knelt by her master´s side. Voldemort stroked her hair and the witch leaned into the touch, all but purring.

Severus was dismissed with a grateful smile and hurried back to Hogwarts, where he drank two more cups of coffee in order to forget the image of Bellatrix Lestrange rubbing her cheek on the Dark Lord´s arm. Something stronger would have been nice, but it wasn´t even nine o´clock, so it was out of question.

Well, at least it wasn´t evening, or Severus would have been afraid to go to bed. Nightmares were a sure thing this night.


	15. 15th of December

15

After a rather restless night – images of Bellatrix making the Dark Lord a scene when she wasn´t allowed to polish his wand were haunting the potions master whenever he closed his eyes – Severus had to face a busy start of the week.

There were only five school days left until the Christmas holidays and the brats handed in homework like mad. It seemed nobody wanted to keep work for the holidays. Argus Filch came and asked Severus for more cleaning potions – Severus made that special detergent that smelled of pines every season – and Madam Pomfrey sent a list of things she wanted before Christmas. The witch´s excuse was, like every year, that she wanted to make sure that her stocks were full in order to avoid pestering the potions master during the holidays. Severus snorted. The probability that somebody was going to come down with splattergroit at Christmas was marginal, so he´d rather brew the required potion on the spot, but the nurse wouldn´t have it.

So Severus was found brewing before, after, between and during lessons all day. He made the upper years provide him with bases for potions he had to make and the younger students were made cut, slice and grind his ingredients while they waited for their assigned brews to simmer to the right consistency.

The potions master even had his meals delivered to the dungeons. After his last lesson, Severus sat down at his desk and started correcting homework. Thanks to expertly planning, he had some time where none of his potions needed stirring or adding ingredients.

By the time Severus realized that he had forgotten to open his calendar, it was twenty minutes to midnight. What was going to happen, if the day´s gift wasn´t taken from the box? The potions master considered opening it himself, but he´d rather have the last gift. So what to do?

He was startled out of his musings by a soft crack.

"Professor Snape, Sir," a house elf tugged at his sleeve. "The headmaster asked Dobby to bring professor Snape a cup of tea." The small creature held out the afore mentioned cup.

Severus wondered. Was a house elf able to open Santa´s calendar? It was, he decided, worth a try. Luckily the headmaster had sent the free elf, so the creature wasn´t going to be offended if the advent calendar gave it clothes.

"Thank you, Dobby. I´d like you to open my advent calendar," Severus rummaged for the box and held it out to the small servant.

"Oooooooh!" howled the elf, overwhelmed with joy! "What an honour! Professor Snape shares Santa´s calendar with Dobby! Professor Snape is the kindest of wizards!"

"You know about Santa?" Severus was bewildered.

"Of course house elves know about Santa! He throws the presents into the floo and the house elves put them under the tree. It was agreed between Santa and the community of house elves more than thousand years ago. Santa employs the biggest group of house elves. Even more than Hogwarts he has! They make toys every day!"

The potions master tried to fit in that piece of information with what he knew about Santa. "Well," he continued at last, "open it."

Dobby took the pink box with a sob and opened it. "Santa´s wisdom is beyond measure!" howled the elf. He removed what looked like a small wooden box, but as always, the gift grew when it was taken out of the box and at last the small elf had a chest of drawers. "Dobby will keep all his socks in here!" the elf wrapped his arms around the piece of furniture as far as they would go. "Thank you, professor Snape! Thank you!"

With another soft crack the elf and his new possession disappeared.

Severus sipped his tea before he went to bed.


	16. 16th of December

16

The potions master spent Tuesday morning finishing most of his brews, filling them into delicate glass bottles, heavy jars and one even into a goat leather sack. During lunch break he levitated a large tray with potions and salves upstairs to the hospital wing. The floating tray was well protected by spells. Severus had learned to do that the hard way, when in his first year an unlucky Gryffindor had come running down the stairs and had knocked over the tray, thus destroying two days of hard work.

"Severus!" Poppy Pomfrey hurried to help him with his precious load. "Really, every year I tell you ´make it before Christmas´ and every year you make it at once! I never mean to make you work like a house elf for a whole day! It would have been enough if I got those things next week!"

"I´d rather have that off my plate," the potions master explained sourly. He followed the matron to her store cupboard and helped her store the potions away. "You know that your pepper up potion is quite old?"

"Hm, we were lucky this year. I didn´t need much in autumn, so I didn´t come to you for more."

Severus took the bottle out of the cupboard, opened it and sniffed. "I´ll make a fresh patch. Don´t give this to a student if you can avoid it. It will still work, but it could cause acne."

The nurse laughed. "That would mean you have to make acne salve, too."

"I should refuse that. It would make them pay attention at at least one potions lesson." Severus grinned and continued opening bottles and jars to examine the content. It turned out that only the pepper up needed to be replaced.

The potions master changed his lesson plan on his way back to the dungeons and made pepper up the topic for the Hufflepuff fifth years he had right after lunch. That way he could bring the fresh brew to the hospital wing in the evening.

Poppy Pomfrey invited Severus for tea and biscuits as a little reward. The potions master had been hoping for that. The nurse was known for the delicious Christmas cookies she made every year.

"Take more of the chocolate ones," smiled the witch. "I know they are your favourites and made some more, especially for you."

"Thank you," Severus said earnestly. He took another biscuit. After several more he held out the advent calendar to the nurse. "Would you like to open it?"

"May I really?" Madam Pomfrey clapped her hands excitedly like a small child.

After a curt nod of confirmation she took the little box and opened it.

"A star cookie cutter! Thank you, Severus!" The woman leaned over and pecked the potions master on the cheek.

Snape blushed. As soon as it was polite he fled to his dungeons.


	17. 17th of December

17

When Snape came to the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, he was gestured to join the headmaster. The potions master cursed under his breath, as he would have prefered a quiet meal, but it couldn´t be helped. The headmaster hadn´t branded him like the Dark Lord, but that didn´t mean that his summons were less insistant.

"Good morning, headmaster," Severus settled down on the chair by the man´s right and helped himself to toast, bacon and baked beans.

"Good morning, Severus." Dumbledore poured him a cup of tea. "You know, I thought about that little advent calendar of yours."

The potions master flinched. Did Dumbledore require to choose a person to open the little box? It wasn´t impossible. He had told the man that the Dark Lord had asked him to let Bellatrix Lestrange open it, and Severus didn´t put it past the headmaster to be childish enough to want to do the same.

"About which aspect of it, headmaster?" Severus asked with a foreboding of doom.

The headmaster took a sip of tea before he answered. "Rumour has it that the ladies are quite fond of it." Another sip of tea. "Rumour has it you were kissed in exchange for the privilege to open a window."

"Granger didn´t kiss me, she hugged me," Severus replied sourly. Typical for the Hogwarts rumour mill to expand that harmless gesture of thank you to something spectacular. As if he had never been hugged by a student before! Amelia Spluttergrain of Ravenclaw had hugged him in 1982 after he had saved her from an attacking mountain troll when he walked past the Defence classroom.

"Miss Granger?" the headmaster chuckled. "My, my, Severus! I was talking about Poppy."

Snape could have slapped himself. What sort of spy was he, when he gave away information instead of gaining it! He had been sure that nobody had seen him and Poppy!

"I take it you talked to the portraits again, Albus?"

"Of course! It´s my duty!"

"It´s your duty to protect the school, not to exchange gossip with painted fools!" Severus rammed his fork into another piece of bacon angrily.

"No need to be angry, Severus. I think it´s quite a sly thing to give the calendar to the ladies and enjoy their gratitude." The headmaster beamed at him. "I was meaning to tell you to continue the strategy. A kiss or two won´t hurt."

"The advent calendar won´t earn me kisses," huffed the potions master.

"Are you ready to bet on that?" asked Dumbledore.

"Any time."

The headmaster looked over the assembled students and teachers. "Sinistra," he said then. "A student wouldn´t be appropriate."

Severus agreed with a nod and walked over to the witch.

"Aurora," he hinted a bow, "would you do me the honour to open my advent calendar?"

The astronomy teacher smiled and took the pink box from Snape graciously. She opened it and squealed with delight. The Great Hall fell silent and all the students watched as the professor lifted a star chart out of the calendar.

"Thank you, Severus!" the usually so quiet woman fell on the potions master´s neck and kissed him enthusiastically on the mouth. There was stunned silence first, but then the students began to applaud. The potions master, though he couldn´t see it with his armful of witch, was quite sure that Dumbledore was the first to clap. He freed himself from the woman, grabbed his advent calendar and fled the hall.

When he turned one last time to look back by the door, he saw Dumbledore give Sinistra the high five.


	18. 18th of December

18

When Severus went to breakfast the next day, the students fled like sparrows from a hungry cat. The potions master smirked. He had taught them a lesson or two the day before. The students, who were unlucky to have potions on their timetables, had paid dearly for the ridicule and humiliation Severus Snape had suffered. The number of house points he had taken had exceeded anything he had done before and for the first time in Hogwarts history a professor had proctored detention for more than fifty students at once in the evening.

Snape sat at the head table and stared at the assembled students defiantly. Not a single teacher was there yet. Great. Now he had to supervise breakfast! Cowards! Every single one of them!

The potions master was halfway through his second cup of coffee, when finally a colleague showed up.

Hagrid, the gameskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, sat beside the potions master.

"Good morning!" he greeted Severus merrily. "How are you today?"

"How can I be, when I had loads of detentions to supervise?" huffed Snape. He sipped some coffee to hide behind the cup.

"Ah, I heard that you punished them for being impolite. It wasn´t the students´ fault, you know?"

"Whose was it then? Mine?" Severus glared at the half-giant. It would only fit for people to blame him now.

"Yours? Of course not! It was Dumbledore´s alone! That was a crude prank he played on you!"

The potions master was surprised to hear Hagrid of all people blame the headmaster. The gameskeeper normally worshipped the old wizard. "It was," Severus agreed.

"You didn´t deserve that," continued Hagrid. "He can´t ridicule a teacher in front of all the students!"

Severus agreed again.

"You know, I thought you could do with a little comfort. I brought you some creature parts for your potions."

"Thank you!" beamed the potions master. "Can you come down to my lab when you finished breakfast?"

"Actually I had breakfast in my hut, I was merely coming here to meet you."

Back down in the dungeons (Snape couldn´t have cared less that a hall full of students stayed behind unsupervised. Let the headmaster handle pandemonium!), Hagrid produced a small treasure of potions ingredients from his pockets. There were unicorn hair and thestral scales, bowtruckle limbs and hippogryff dung and even a small vial of acromantula venom.

"Thank you very much, Hagrid!" cried Severus when he received the venom. "What a precious ingredient! Would you like to open my advent calendar in exchange?" The potions master had thought most of a sleepless night about who to give the next gifts. Nobody, who had laughed at him. Nobody, who was going to kiss him, be it in public or private. This left not many people he knew. Hagrid, he realised, was among them.

"Of course! Thank you!" cried the half-giant. "I hope I get one of those whistles Malfoy got!" He opened the box eagerly. "Oh! Even better!" He put on what looked like an ordinary pair of glasses.

"What is that, Hagrid?"

"A creature-finder!" explained the gameskeeper. "It enables you to see invisible creatures. Thestrals, gnargles and snorkaks and stuff. Thank you so much! Are you aware that your gobula needs food?" He pointed at an empty corner of the room.

"What is a gobula?" cried Snape, stepping back from the indicated corner.

"An invisible creature, obviously. Completely harmless. They´re said to bring good luck."

"Really? What do they eat?"

"Song. Gobulas feast on song."

Severus Snape didn´t sing, of course, but the rest of the day he hummed a song under his breath.


	19. 19th of December

19

After spending another sleepless night making plans how to get back at Dumbledore, Severus was seen hurrying through the castle like an overgrown bat on the warpath the next morning. And in a way he was.

He found his goal, the Bloody Baron, at his favourite place, the Astronomy Tower.

"Baron," said the Head of Slytherin, "I need your help!"

"How may I be of assistance to the man in charge of my house?" asked the baron pompously.

"The headmaster played a cruel prank on me," explained the potions master.

"He has to pay!" cried the baron.

"Indeed!" agreed Severus. "I need you to call Peeves for me."

"Kindly wait here, Sir!" The baron floated through the door to the staircase. Ten minutes later he returned, the poltergeist in tow.

"Professor?" Peeves greeted Snape, glancing at the baron uncomfortably.

"I have a deal to propose," Severus came to the heart of matter at once. "I have an original Santa advent calendar. It always chooses a fitting present for the person opening it."

"I have no idea where Potty´s quill is!" cried the poltergeist defiantly.

Snape smirked. "I´m sure of that. – I want you to think of the mischief you could do if you were allowed to open the box."

Peeves´s eyes glittered with anticipation. "Oh!" he cried. "A prank with the aid of Santa himself! What a prank it would be!"

"Here is the deal," Snape continued, ignoring the poltergeist´s glee. "I allow you to open the box in exchange for the promise to use whatever you find in it on the headmaster for three days."

"Deal!" cried the small spirit and did a somersault.

Severus held out the box and Peeves opened it. "A rattle!" The poltergeist chuckled and shook the rattle. The potions master grinned. The sound was simply annoying. "I have to show it to the headmaster!" cried Peeves and disappeared.

Snape thanked the baron and went down to breakfast.

The noise in the Great Hall was quite different from the usual one. The students muttered and whispered, pointing at the head table, where Dumbledore sent spell after spell at the poltergeist, to no avail. Peeves giggled like mad, shook his rattle and did a somersault from time to time.

Severus took the seat beside the headmaster.

"Severus!" cried the man. "It seems I can´t stop that bloody rattle! Would you care to try a spell or two?"

"I certainly won´t waste my time on fruitless magic." Severus helped himself to some tea.

"Somebody must have spelled the rattle!"

"I don´t think so. I rather think that it´s Santa´s standard magic. I think I read somewhere that a rightfully received Santa gift is theft-proof and destruction-proof for three days."

"A Santa gift? Tell me that you didn´t let the poltergeist open your calendar!"

"Well, I was quite sure that he was not going to kiss me..." Severus smiled at the headmaster sweetly before he took a forkful of scrambled egg.

"I never took you to be resentful, Severus," whined the headmaster. He shot another spell at Peeves, but it bounced off without doing any demage.

The potions master smirked at his superior. Somehow, the eggs tasted especially good that morning.


	20. 20th of December

20

Punishing Dumbledore was not as much fun as Severus had anticipated. By dinner the next day he was ready to strangle Peeves himself. Dumbledore on the other hand was humming merrily under his breath. The man had turned up for breakfast with a pair of fluffy orange earmuffs and ignored the poltergeist successfully ever since.

What was worst about all the racket was that Severus couldn´t think properly. It was already evening and the advent calendar was unopened. Who was he to choose? He had included most of his colleagues, the Dark Lord and his inner circle, some students and even Peeves. So whom else did he know well enough to ask them?

Severus grew frustrated when he couldn´t think of anybody. So it had to be a student. A male student, just to be sure not to be caught in an embarrassing situation again. The potions master pondered over the week´s lesson. Who had done especially well? Who deserved a reward?

Ginevra Weasley had brewed a burn salve good enough to use at the hospital wing. The problem was she was a girl. On the other hand, she undeniably had brewed the best potion in class the entire week.

With a sigh, Severus stalked to the Gryffindor table.

"Miss Weasley," he began. "Do I have your word that you have no intention to hug, kiss or embarrass me in any other way?"

The girl stared at him as if he had sprouted whiskers and asked her to dance the samba on the table with him.

"You have my word, Sir, that I do not plan to kiss you in the near or distant future." The girl said, bewildered.

"Excellent," cried the potions master. "In this case, may I ask you – in appreciation of your acceptable work – to open this advent calendar?"

"Thank you, Sir!"

The redhead opened the box and removed a tiny object, which grew once freed of the box. It was a small cage.

"Thank you!" squealed the young witch. "I wanted one for my pygmy puff for ages!" She leapt to her feet and fell on Severus´ neck.

"Miss Weasley!" spluttered the potions master. "Remember your promise!"

"I only promised not to kiss you!" came the answer muffled by his hair.

Severus tried to disentangle himself from the enthusiastic young witch, but she held on like a vice. The potions master didn´t dare to think of Dumbledore´s expression when he watched the display.

"You´re ruining my reputation! Let me go!" he hissed at the student in his arms.

The girl stepped back immediately. "I´m sorry, Sir," she whispered. "It was just that the gift was so wonderful and exactly what I wanted that I felt I had to thank you properly."

Severus snorted. Thank him! Whom did she think she could fool?

"I don´t think you have to worry, Severus." The headmaster said gently from behind him. "By now the student body is used to you getting hugged and kissed. Nobody made a big deal of it."

Snape looked around. Really. Nobody had stopped eating to observe the display. Only the Weasley girl´s closest friends were watching and they, he reasoned, were more interested in the little cage she had got than in their potions master.

A little less embarrassed, Severus went down to the dungeons, where he couldn´t hear the racket Peeves was making. He sat in front of the fireplace with a nice tumbler of firewhisky and enjoyed his evening.


	21. 21st of December

21

The next morning found Severus Snape back with his problem. Whom was he to choose to open his advent calendar? Despite the fact that the students had almost ignored the Weasley girl falling on his neck, the potions master was reluctant to make a habit of being hugged in public.

Inspiration struck suddenly.

Sybill Trelawney! The woman was a colleague, so choosing her was quite natural, and she hid away in that tower most of the time. So the danger of being publicly kissed was rather small. The fact that Severus despised the woman with all his heart was a little backdraw, but the situation was bordering on desperate, so, he decided, he could overlook his resentments for once.

Satisfied to have come up with a candidate early in the morning, Severus began his day. After breakfast he climbed the stairs to the North Tower. The potions master had just risen his hand to knock when the door was flung open (there was a door to the seer´s realm, she only insisted her students climbed that ridiculous silver ladder).

"Listening in on me again?" hissed the witch.

"Not at all! I was going to knock!" Severus took in the appearance of the woman in front of him. Obviously those huge glasses and raglike clothing were also for the students. Sybill Trelawney wore a green dress, which hugged her surprisingly slim frame pleasantly. Severus would never have guessed that the woman was so well proportioned. Those robes she usually wore hid definitely too much. Her hair was nicely brushed and fell down in curls.

If it hadn´t been for her earrings, Severus wouldn´t have been sure the woman who opened the door was the Devination teacher.

"Were you? Come in then." The witch stepped aside to let the potions master into her rooms. "What can I do for you? Have you come to have your future unveiled? What do you want me to use? Tea leaves? Cards?" Her voice dropped to a low purr. "Palmistry?" She took the potions master´s hand and followed his life line with the finger nail of her index.

Severus withdrew the hand hastily.

"I´ve not come for your service as a seer. I..."

"Wait!" cried the seer. She walked around Severus slowly. "I see! You need help! – With a pink box? No, that can´t be."

Severus took his advent calendar out of his pocket in astonishment.

"A pink box!" cried the witch. "I knew it! – What is it?"

"It´s an advent calendar. I have to find a different person to open it every day. Santa´s orders."

"You met Santa?" Trelawney´s eyes went big. "Oh! Lucky you!"

"So, would you like to open it today?"

"I´d be honoured!" The seer took the little box from the potions master and opened it. "A deck of cards!" she cried merrily. "Come! You have to help me try it out!" The witch grabbed Severus hand and pulled him to the sofa in front of the fireplace. "I´m sure a card deck from Santa himself will work splendidly."

Severus followed the seer willingly. Not that he believed in devination, but the woman had neither hugged nor kissed him and all in all the encounter hadn´t been unpleasant. So why not indulge her and let her lay her cards.

"Choose one!" The witch had finished shuffling her cards and held them out to Severus.

The potions master obeyed.

The seer squealed with delight. "The lover! Oh, Severus!" She put the cards on the table and moved a little closer.

First Severus thought about fleeing, but then he remembered that the Sybill Trelawney in her leisure time outfit was quite an eye-catcher and the little tower room was all but public. With a small smile he leant closer to indulge the seer.


	22. 22nd of December

22

Severus was woken by a very nervous house elf.

"Professor Snape, Sir!" piped the little creature. "Them young wizards and witches is waiting, Professor Snape, Sir!"

"What?" murmured the potions master, still half asleep. "Who? Where?" Why couldn´t a wizard get a decent amount of sleep in that castle after an evening of ... mmmh! What a memory!

"Them students, Professor Snape, Sir! In front of the classroom!"

"What?" shrieked Severus. He was wide awake in an instant. Jumping out of bed, applying a cleaning spell and magicking his robes on was one move. Sometimes it came in handy to have served a very impatient master. When the Dark Lord summoned you in the middle of the night and you didn´t have Albus Dumbledore´s presence as an excuse, you better hurried.

Within two minutes – one minute was spent draining a cup of coffee and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth – the potions master stalked around the corner to his classroom, robes billowing behind him as ever.

"What do you think you are doing?" he bellowed at the group of exuberant Gryffindors who were fooling around. "Can´t you wait for two minutes without killing yourselves? What if there is a medical emergency at the hospital wing and I can´t come to your lesson at all? I´m disgusted! – Ten points from Gryffindor!"

The quietly waiting Slytherins smirked at the protesting lions.

"But Sir!" cried Gryffindor´s golden boy.

"One more word, Potter, and I will make it ten each of you!"

The lesson itself went well. The Slytherins were either decent brewers themselves, or friends of Draco Malfoy, who corrected their worst mistakes. The Gryffindors had already lost points and therefore were especially careful. Severus made a mental note to deduce points in the corridor more often.

The brewing was well under way when Pansy Parkinson stepped up to Severus´s desk.

"Sir," the girl said with a shy smile, "I brewed this potion, which is intended to help wake up in the morning. Would you care to give your opinion, please?" She placed a small cauldron on the desk.

Severus was bewildered. Parkinson had brewed an extra potion? He leant closer to have a look. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wheedled his nostrils. The potions master looked up in surprise.

"An old Slytherin recipe," explained the girl with a wink.

"I will need some time to sample it," said Severus, touched by his student´s thoughtfulness.

"I know," replied the young witch. "And several samples are recommendable."

"Stay behind after the lesson, and I will give you my opinion," Severus said sternly.

Needless to say that Miss Parkinson was invited to open a certain pink box an hour later. She extracted a small brooch, which played ´Jingle bells´.

"Thank you, Sir!" cried the girl, and being a true Slytherin she looked left and right to be sure that they were alone before she stood on tiptoe and pecked her head of house on the cheek.


	23. 23rd of December

23

Severus decided that the last present – but his own – had to go to another Slytherin. Firstly, because it was his own house, and secondly, because Slytherins had the proper decorum. Miss Parkinson had proved that the day before. Slytherins didn´t fall on their teacher´s neck brainlessly, they checked the surroundings for eavesdroppers first.

Severus smiled proudly as he thought of his clever little snake.

"Anything amusing you want to tell me of?" Dumbledore asked from the potions master´s left.

"Go ahead, Severus," piped Flitwick from the right. "I could do with a funny story after yesterday."

"Yesterday?" the potions master asked, irritated. "What was yesterday?"

"A little accident in charms. I tought the seventh years advanced cheering and disheartening charms. Well, Mr. Crabbe exagerated a bit. Mind you, I don´t mean to blame the dear boy, he was most surprised about the amount of power himself. Well..." The small Charms teacher pointed at the Gryffindor table helplessly, where several of the seventh years were wailing. Even the golden boy looked close to tears. "I applied cheering charms to counter his spell myself, but to not much avail."

Severus smirked. Vincent Crabbe, he decided, deserved a reward.

"Perhaps Severus can provide you with a potion to cheer up the Gryffindors, Filius," mused the headmaster.

"I could brew a patch of euphoria, but I doubt it makes sense," replied the potions master, sipping his coffee. "Euphoria needs to simmer for three days and I guess Mr. Crabbe´s charms won´t last that long. And anyway, I´m not sure I want Potter and his little friends euphoric." He took another sip of coffee to hide his smirk behind the cup.

"I, too, doubt that the spell will last for three days," agreed Flitwick. "They look much better today."

Snape spent the rest of breakfast imagining how the Gryffindors had looked the day before.

He cornered Crabbe when the boy was on his way back to the Common Room after dinner.

"Mr. Crabbe," he started silkily, "I heard you discovered a talent for disheartening charms recently. The result was rather ... spectacular."

The boy grinned smugly. "Indeed. My father showed me how to cast a disheartening spell last summer. Potter cried like a baby."

"I´m sure he did." Severus smirked, and he was glad he didn´t have to hide it with his young fellow Slytherin. "Mr. Crabbe, would you like to open my advent calendar?"

"The one Draco got his whistle from?" Crabbe´s eyes shone with excitement. "I´d love to, Sir!"

Crabbe´s gift was a small bell.

"What is it?" the boy asked. "I mean what does it do?"

"I´m afraid you´ll have to try it out to find out," Severus pointed out the obvious.

Crabbe did. The bell sounded heavenly. Severus felt happy and light as he heard it. "Do you feel cheerful, too, Sir?" asked the boy.

The potions master nodded. "I guess you could get into the headmaster´s good books if you decided to chime that bell near Gryffindor Tower this evening."

Crabbe, a true Slytherin, smirked. "I guess I´ll go and ask if he wants me to. Thank you, Sir!"

"You´re welcome." Severus smiled happily. Gryffindor house endebted to Slytherin. It was like Christmas had come early.


	24. 24th of December

24

At last!

Severus could hardly believe it. It was the 24th and finally, finally, it was his turn to open the little pink box! He had been looking forward to that for weeks, and today he was going to get his reward.

The potions master called for an elf and ordered breakfast in his chambers. He sat in front of the fireplace with tea, toast, butter and honey and enjoyed. From time to time he looked at the small pink box which sat beside the teapot with a small smile.

When he had finished his breakfast, Severus ordered the elf to remove the dishes and settled down in front of the fireplace with his advent calendar. After a deep breath he opened the lid.

For a few moments silver stars sparkled around the box, but they were gone quickly. Severus peeked inside the calendar.

It was empty.

The potions master turned the box upside down and shook it. Nothing. He stuck his index into it and wiggled the finger into the corners. Nothing. Severus felt like he was falling into an abyss. For more than three weeks he had followed Santa´s orders to the letter. 23 people had gotten a gift, and he, who had searched for Santa – not them, he had! – he got nothing!

Severus felt like crying. He had been cheated. Swindled. Defrauded. Fooled. Again. Why was it always him? Somewhere, a superior entity had to be laughing at him. It had started when he was a boy and never ended. Fate made him work hard, harder than his peers, and in the end made sure he got no reward. He was used to it, but being withheld a simple joy like an advent calendar gift seemed so cruel!

"Professor Snape, Sir!"

The potions master was startled out of his internal lament.

"Dobby is most honoured, Sir!" The elf bowed until his nose touched the floor.

"Honoured? I don´t understand."

The house elf shook a piece of heavy parchment. "Never has Dobby been invited to attend a wizard´s party! Dobby has come to ask whether the professor needs help with the preparations!"

Severus was puzzled. What was the elf talking about? "May I see this, please?"

The elf handed the potions master the parchment. It was, indeed, of excellent quality, heavy and flawless, the stuff only aristocrats used. And it was an invitation. To Severus´s Christmas party at Hogwarts castle. At three o´clock in the afternoon.

The potions master was shocked. Where did this come from? He hadn´t sent out any invitations and he wasn´t planning a party. He never had been and never would be. Severus Snape was not a party person. So now people – Merlin knew how many – were going to turn up for a party! Expecting him to host it!

"I guess a little help couldn´t hurt," he informed the house elf.

Dobby beamed. "Dobby will be honoured!" The small creature disappeared with a crack and a loud knock.

It took Severus a moment to realise that the knock hadn´t been caused by the elf, but by somebody standing in front of his door.

"Headmaster! Filius! What can I do for you?"

"We came to offer help with the party preparations," Albus informed his potions master. "Have you decided which room to use? What about the Great Hall? But no, that´s too big. How many guests do you expect, by the way?"

"I have no idea," Severus motioned his two colleagues to come in. "I didn´t invite anybody. I start thinking it was the advent calendar. When I opened it, it was empty but for some magical sparkles."

"Wow!" cried the small Charms professor. "Santa gave you a Christmas party? Cool! What a present!"

"We still need to decide where to hold it," Dumbledore insisted. "The Great Hall is too big. So, what about your classroom? I could transfigure the workbenches for you."

"And I can help with the decoration," cried Flitwick.

"The classroom seems to be a good idea," agree Severus.

"Excellent!" cried the headmaster. "Let´s get started!"

The three wizards went to the potions classroom, where the headmaster transfigured the workbenches into small tables and the teacher´s desk into a buffet. Filius Flitwick started putting up Christmas garlands, glass baubles and silver stars.

Shortly after they had started, they were joined by the deputy headmistress, who brought several pots of poinsettias.

Dobby, along with several Hogwarts house elves brought platters of sandwiches and a huge bowl of punch.

"How many guests do you expect?" asked McGonagall after she had helped Dumbledore transfigure the wooden students´ stools into comfortable chairs.

"That´s the main problem. I have no idea," sighed Severus. "The advent calendar sent the invitations, not I. I have no idea how many it sent and to whom."

The deputy headmistress was stopped to answer by the arrival of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson, who all held invitations in their hands. "I´m honoured to be invited to my head of house´s Christmas party," said Draco Malfoy pompously.

"I brought a guaranteedly gnargle-free mistletoe," the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood said from behind the blond boy.

"If I may utter a guess, it seems the calendar invited those you gave presents to," mused the headmaster beside the potions master.

"What?" shrieked the potions master. "Have you any idea who I let open that box?"

"Whom can you have chosen? You didn´t take your advent calendar to a deatheater meeting, did you?" Dumbledore looked over his halfmoon spectacles. "Oh no! Don´t tell me you did! Out with it! Who?"

"Lucius. Bellatrix. The Dark Lord." He muttered the last under his breath.

It was Dumbledore´s turn to shriek. "The Dark Lord? Are you telling me that Tom Riddle himself is going to turn up here?"

"Did I hear somebody call my name?" The Dark Lord stood in the classroom door with Lucius and Bellatrix by his side. The dark wizard wore black robes, a Santa cap with a small mistletoe instead of the tassel and a red stole with a green tinsel motive. Bella wore a matching costume while Lucius donned elegant light blue robes.

Dumbledore jumped half a meter back with a yelp and drew his wand.

"Funny you have your wand ready, Albus," the Dark Lord smiled jovially. "I wanted to show you my advent calendar gift." He presented a small velvet ring. "I got a wand polisher!" He stepped closer to the headmaster and set the small item on the tip of the old wizard´s wand.

"Wonderful!" cried the headmaster as he watched the ring slide up and down his wand. "What a splendid gift! Look! I got a nose warmer!" He put it on.

"You´re making me jealous!" cried Voldemort. "May I try it on?"

"Of course!" Dumbledore handed the nose warmer to the other wizard.

Animated by the two wizards' exchange, people started comparing their gifts all around the room. Bellatrix admired McGonagall´s nightdress enviously. Lucius glared over Draco´s whistle enviously. Dobby was beside himself over Flitwick´s fairies.

As the conversation went on, more guests arrived. Hagrid, Rosmerta, Ernie McMillan, Granger and the Weasley girl.

The last to arrive was Harry Potter.

"Voldemort!" he cried, stopping short and drawing his wand.

Several people turned around. "Shut up and take a cup of punch, Potter!"

The Dark Lord himself brought a cup to the Gryffindor hero. "Go ahead, take it! I didn´t poison it! Cheers!" The dark wizard raised his own cup.

"You know, Severus," said Sybill Trelawney, who had left her tower rooms for once, and snuggled up to the potions master´s side. "Of all the gifts yours was the best. What a wonderful, peaceful party."

Severus surveilled the room carefully. The Chosen One and the Dark Lord were having punch together. Albus Dumbledore and Bellatrix Lestrange were discussing techniques of wand polishing. The Weasley girl and Draco had just diappeared to one of the storerooms together (Severus made a mental note to send a teacher after them).

"Indeed," he purred into Sybill´s ear. "But I hope you enjoyed yours, too."

"I did!" whispered the seer. "I use it every day and so far every single prediction was right."

"Really? So, tell me what you predicted for today." Severus smiled.

The witch stood on tiptoe and whispered into the potions master´s ear. Severus blushed crimson. Sybill was right. His gift was the best of all.

The End.


End file.
